“See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children.” 1 John 3:1a

What’s your favorite name that someone has given you? A title or maybe a childhood nickname? I’ve been given a lot of names over the years – enduring pet names given by my family, my maiden name, my married name, the title of “mom”, “aunt”, ”daughter”, and ”sister” – all of these have a special place in my heart, but none of them have humbled and honored me as much as “child of God.” What have I done to deserve this great love and this position of honor? Nothing!

Of course, I’ve been called some not-so-nice names over the years by others and by myself. Shame, embarrassment, and anxiety come hand-in-hand with these names used against me. But these are lies. This is not who God says I am. I am His creation, His child, His beloved daughter. He calls me HIS!

Pastor Jeff Clark said something in a message last week that was the perfect reminder of the Father’s love for His children: What God says about you is the only thing that matters. He is our Creator and has made us with a perfect plan in mind! We don’t have to worry about others’ thoughts and actions and words against us when we are seeking our Father. Our Father’s love for His children is perfect and unconditional!

So when we begin to doubt our worth, our place, our identity, we can remember the great love of our perfect Father! He knows us like no one else, and He still loves us like no one else. It’s not about how good we are or how perfectly we present ourselves to the world- His love is unconditional, personal, and will never, ever end. Let this verse be your prayer as the chosen child of God!

Reflection:

• Pray now and thank God for His unchanging love. Ask Him to allow you to see yourself through His loving perspective.
• Share kind words with your family and friends today. Remind them of how precious they are to you and how even more precious they are to the Lord.

Family Application: His Children

Author: Cody Smith

Over the past several days, we’ve gotten to see what love is according to the Bible and we also learned that Jesus calls us His friend. I don’t know about you, but I love being friends with Jesus. The Bible tells us a lot about God, but the Bible also tells us how God sees us. Read 1 John 3:1 in your Bible with your family and see if you can find out what God calls us. Did you find it? God calls us his children. As Christians, he’s adopted us as his kids which makes sense as to why we get the honor of calling Him our Heavenly Father. We have a perfect parent who loves us dearly, even more than our parents on Earth love us.
If God is our Heavenly Father and we, as Christians, are His children, that means we have a lot of brothers and sisters in Christ! We are part of the biggest family in the entire universe! Whoa!

• What is something you can do for someone else outside of your immediate family to show God’s love to them? Maybe to a brother or sister in Christ in your neighborhood, at Sunday school, or while you're out holiday shopping with your family?
• Prayer: Dear God, thank You for adopting me into Your family. Thank You for loving me so much that You consider me a son or daughter. Help me to treat all of Your children, old and young, as You see them through your eyes.